In the heart of Casablanca, close to its ancient walls and historic gates, stands Souq Al Habous, known locally as Al Hbas. It is one of the popular spaces embodying the spirit of the Moroccan city. It is not just a commercial alleyway lined with shops, but a living layer of urban memory that has preserved its rhythm despite the passage of time.
The Habous neighbourhood was established during the city’s demographic expansion in the early 20th century, as part of a wider urban vision overseen by French architects Albert Laprade, Auguste Cadet, and Edmond Brion. They sought to create a distinctive district that combined Arab-Islamic culture, as seen in its architecture, with the markers of urban modernity at the time, such as sewage systems.
From the beginning, the market evolved as a social and cultural extension of Moroccan life, rather than simply being a space for buying and selling. Its narrow winding alleys, stone arches, heavy wooden doors, and façades bearing an Andalusian-Moroccan character all create a visual identity that remains coherent to this day. Over the decades, the market has become a meeting point for artisans and booksellers.
Souq Al Habous has a distinctive character that sets it apart from modern markets. Built on the idea of “cultural wandering”, it is a place where visitors do not simply purchase an item, but enter into a dialogue with the city itself.
Historically, the market has been closely linked to cultural life in Casablanca. It has hosted libraries and shops selling manuscripts, along with Arabic and French books, enabling close contact with intellectual elites, students, and researchers. This relationship between the market and books gave the place a symbolic significance that transcended commerce to encompass the production of knowledge and the preservation of collective memory.
As part of the 35th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF), organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) from 13 to 18 September 2026, and celebrating popular book markets, Souq Al Habous offers an ideal perspective from which to understand the organic relationship between cities, books, crafts, and people. Major book fairs celebrate not only publications, but the places that shape collective awareness and preserve cultural identity. from erosion.
From this perspective, the market becomes an open text about Moroccan history, which can be read through architectural details, the dialects of vendors, names of alleyways, and the scents of leather, spices, and old paper.
Souq Al Habous has succeeded in remaining faithful to its original idea as a space that balances modernity with tradition. Perhaps for this reason, more than a century after its establishment, it continues to attract visitors, writers, artists, and tourists. For Moroccans, it is a reflection of their identity, while for visitors it offers a condensed image of Morocco, where history intersects with daily life.
The market has preserved its human and visual character, as though refusing to become just another tourist attraction. Wandering through Souq Al Habous is like reading a long chapter from the Moroccan story, written in voices, scents, and faces.
